Jack Hammer
There are more artists with the name "Jack Hammer".
1) Earl Solomon Burroughs (September 16, 1925 – April 8, 2016), known professionally as Jack Hammer, was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter, credited as the co-writer of "Great Balls of Fire".
Burroughs was born either in Fulton County, Georgia, or in New Orleans, but grew up in California. In the early 1950s, he moved to New York City, where he worked as an MC at the Baby Grand Theatre. He began writing songs, one of his earliest being "Fujiyama Mama", recorded by Annisteen Allen, Eileen Barton, and a few years later by Wanda Jackson. After starting to use the pseudonym Jack Hammer, he also wrote "Rock 'n' Roll Call", recorded by the Treniers and Louis Jordan. He also recorded several singles in the mid-1950s, including "Football Rock" on Decca, and "Girl Girl Girl" on Roulette.
Hammer wrote a song, "Great Balls of Fire", and submitted it to songwriter Paul Case, who liked the title but not the song itself. Case passed the idea to Otis Blackwell, and commissioned him to write a song of the same title for inclusion in the film Jamboree, with Hammer taking a half share of the songwriting royalties. The song was successfully recorded by Jerry Lee Lewis. Hammer also wrote "Peek-A-Boo", a hit for the Cadillacs. Much of Hammer's songwriting work is credited to various aliases including Earl Burrows, Early S. Burrows, George Stone, and T.T. Tyler. His song "Plain Gold Ring" appeared on Nina Simone's 1958 debut album Little Girl Blue, and was later recorded by Nick Cave, Kimbra and others.
In 1960, he recorded an LP, Rebellion - Jack Hammer Sings and Reads Songs and Poems of the Beat Generation, for the Warwick label. In the same year, when the lead vocalist of the Platters left for a solo career, Jack Hammer joined the group and performed, recorded, and wrote songs for them. The following year he moved to Paris, where he performed impersonations of Sammy Davis Jr. and Chuck Berry in cabaret, and then to Belgium. There, he recorded a series of twist songs, including "Kissin' Twist", which became a big hit in Belgium, Germany, France and Sweden. A good dancer, Hammer became known in Europe as "The Twistin' King", and released an LP under that title. In Britain, its title was changed to Hammer + Beat = Twist, released by Oriole Records. He then moved to Germany, and performed on US military bases.
In the mid 1970s, he moved back to the US, and at one point was scheduled to play the part of Jimi Hendrix in a movie that was never made. Jack Hammer performed in the Broadway production of Bubblin' Brown Sugar from February 1976 to December 1977.
He later lived in Hollywood. He died on April 8, 2016 at home in Oakland, California.
2) South African band, turning 21 this year, has always stayed true to its original brand of Rock and Roll. Fiercely independent, Jack Hammer has somehow survived the strange machinery that is the SA music industry and produced some sterling original albums over the years. Since their first performance way back in 1984 the one constant factor in the band has been the man affectionately known as “The Hammer”, Piet Botha.
The current Jack Hammer line-up has now been together for around seven years and consists of Paul van de Waal (“The Duke”) on drums, Tertius du Plessis (“Beano”, bass guitar and Jonathan Martin (“The Kid”) on guitar and vocals and occasional cello.
3) Jack Hammer and the Pacers also known as Jack Hammer
In 1959, a record was released "Black Widow Spider Woman"/"Doggone That Moon", credited to Jack Hammer and the Pacers on the Milestone label, but this was in fact a pseudonym for rockabilly/country singer Werly Fairburn.
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